Computer Industry

Faster, cheaper, better computers seem to sprout on desktops every year with the natural grace of a vegetable garden. For a glimpse into how technology development really happens -- with false starts, painful dead ends and decades of federally funded research in unrelated industries -- consider the example of On-Line Technologies Inc., of East Hartford. The company hopes it is close to creating a niche worth $100 million a year in measuring the microscopic sandwich layers that form processor chips.

Faster, cheaper, better computers seem to sprout on desktops every year with the natural grace of a vegetable garden. For a glimpse into how technology development really happens -- with false starts, painful dead ends and decades of federally funded research in unrelated industries -- consider the example of On-Line Technologies Inc., of East Hartford. The company hopes it is close to creating a niche worth $100 million a year in measuring the microscopic sandwich layers that form processor chips.

Gartner Slipping Shares of Gartner Inc. fell another 3.5 percent Monday after the Stamford computer consultant last week reported a net loss tied to the costs of layoffs and office closings. As the computer industry continues to suffer, Gartner is down 20 percent in the past month.

WELLS, JOHN T. Jr. John T. Wells, Jr., 46, of Fremont, CA, died at home on Monday, (December 23, 2002). He was the son of Viola (Carnelli) Wells and John T. Wells, Sr., of West Hartford; the sister of Carol Wells Andreotta and brother-in-law of Donald Andreotta of Oakton, VA; and sister of Barbara J. Wells of Modesto, CA. Born and raised in West Hartford, John graduated from Hall High School and earned a BA degree from Central Connecticut College....

BARNARD. Elizabeth M. Barnard, 26, of Bloomfield, died Aug. 8, 1993, in Daytona Beach, Fla. She was a consultant in the computer industry. She graduated Winterpark (Fla.) High School, class of 1984. She was a Catholic. She is survived by her mother, Elaine G. Barnard of Winterpark, Fla.; father, Gordon M. Barnard of Winterpark, Fla.; a brother, Gordon Kenneth Barnard of Long Island, N.Y.; her paternal grandparents, Gordon P. Barnard, and Margaret L. Barnard, both of Connecticut; and her maternal grandmother, Mary LaClair of Connecticut.

Late Rally Saves Day NEW YORK -- Blue-chip stocks mounted a late rebound Tuesday, notching more record highs and leaving the Dow Jones industrial average just 250 points shy of the 9,000 mark. The broad market was mixed, with smaller-company shares halting a string of new highs and technology issues sagging amid more signs of profit pressures in the computer industry. The Dow wiped out an early 35-point loss before rising 31.14, to 8,749.99, its second straight record close.

People still can't understand the connection between the PC and TV and home-entertainment systems. Yet the computer industry continues to encourage consumers to extract music or video stored on a PC and play it, wirelessly via local area network, on a TV or audio system. Hauppauge's Digital's MediaMVP offers one of the least expensive ways to sample this phenomenon. The $99 MediaMVP, an Ethernet set-top decoder, accesses a limited number of media files -- MP3 music files, JPEG and GIF digital pictures, and MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 video -- and distributes them throughout the house.